Sumter Mom Charged with Killing Her 3-Month-Old Baby

Sumter, SC (WLTX) – Sumter police have charged a mother, Rayshana Harvin, with homicide by child abuse in the death of her three-month old son.

Harvin, 20, is currently booked at the Sumter County Jail.

Police say that about 3:48 a.m. Monday, officers got a call that a child was not breathing at a home on Byrd Street. Emergency personnel found an infant child who was unresponsive.

The child was then taken to Tuomey Hospital, where doctors were able to regain a pulse. Doctors examined the baby, and an x-ray revealed that the child had a skull fracture, officers say. The child was then taken to Richland Memorial Hospital.

At the time of the incident, the child was being cared for by Harvin. Investigators say they questioned Harvin about her child’s injuries at the police station, and at that time, she implicated herself in the physical abuse.

She was initially charged with unlawful abuse/conduct toward a child, but those charges were upgraded after the child passed away just after 3 p.m.

Two other children at the home have been taken into emergency custody by the Department of Social Services.

The case remains under investigation. An official cause of death will be determined by the coroner’s office.